Orders

ORDER NUMBER

F-28-16

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

FortisBC Energy Inc.

Application for the Customer Choice Program Cost Recovery

Participant Assistance / Cost Award Application

BEFORE:

D. A. Cote, Panel Chair/Commissioner

W. M. Everett, Commissioner

on November 30, 2016

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      FortisBC Energy Inc. (FEI) obtained a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity on August 14, 2006 for the Commodity Unbundling Project for Residential Customers (Customer Choice) in accordance with the provincial government’s 2002 energy policy, which allows for the direct sale of natural gas to residential and small-volume commercial customers through gas marketing companies licensed by the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission);

B.      On April 14, 2016, FEI filed the Customer Choice Program Cost Recovery Application, recommending a specific allocation of program costs between gas marketers and all FEI non-bypass customers based on the principle of cost causation and a specific fee structure for recovering costs allocated to gas marketers, comprised of a fixed and variable fee structure;

C.      By Order A-3-16 dated May 9, 2016 and Order A-4-16 dated June 7, 2016, the Commission established the Regulatory Timetable for the proceeding which included one round of written information requests and a streamlined review process followed by written arguments;

D.      On September 1, 2016, the British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre, on behalf of the British Columbia Old Age Pensioners’ Organization et al. (BCOAPO), filed a Participant Assistance/Cost Award (PACA) application with the Commission, in the amount of $10,901.75, regarding its participation in the proceeding;

E.       On September 13, 2016, the Commercial Energy Consumers Association of BC (CEC) filed a PACA application with the Commission, in the amount of $14,248.51, regarding its participation in the proceeding;

F.       By letter dated October 12, 2016, FEI submits it has no comment on the PACA funding amounts BCOAPO and CEC submitted;

G.     By Commission Order A-9-16 and accompanying decision dated October 18, 2016, the Commission approved, among other things, the allocation of program costs between gas marketers and FEI non-bypass customers and a fee structure for recovering costs allocated to gas marketers; and

H.      The Commission has reviewed the PACA applications in accordance with the criteria and rates set out in the PACA Guidelines, attached to Commission Order G-72-07, and concludes that the cost awards should be approved.

NOW THEREFORE, pursuant to section 118(1) of the Utilities Commission Act, the British Columbia Utilities Commission orders as follows:

1.       Funding is awarded to the following interveners in the listed amounts for their participation in the FortisBC Energy Inc. Application for the Customer Choice Program Cost Recovery proceeding.

2.       FortisBC Energy Inc. is directed to reimburse the above-noted participants for the awarded amounts in a timely manner.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this              30th              day of November 2016.

BY ORDER

Original Signed by:

D. A. Cote

Commissioner